True Love's First Kiss
by Lirael1
Summary: Inuyasha's just your average hanyou who wants nothing but for everyone else in the world to leave him alone. Kagome's a priestess trapped in a dragon guarded castle surrounded by a boiling lake of lava. Sound familiar?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello and welcome to my third Inuyasha fanfic! I'd like to state straight off that I'm probably not going to be able to update this story that often, and to any readers of "Kagome's New Neighbor": I'm not planning on updating it any time soon. Sorry! Just think of it as on hiatus for an unknown amount of time.**

**Anyway, back to this story: Between college, work, and laziness I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but when I do, I promise to make them nice long chapters (like this one – 10 pages 1.5-spaced). Um… and before I start to go off on a tangent and ramble on aimlessly, here it is! Please enjoy and review!**

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha series, or the plotline from Shrek._

True Love's First Kiss

Chapter 1

_Once upon a time there was a lovely priestess, but she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love, and her true love's first kiss._

"Please! What kind of crap is this? You actually think you're gonna sell these!" Inuyasha looked at the old woman skeptically, "God, granny! You've really lost it if you think people are gonna pay money for this shit!"

"Please address me as mam or by my name, Kaede, not 'granny.' And that very well may be, but I shall still try. This Rumiko Takahashi has something worth hearing, so no matter how many times I'm turned away, I'll still try to sell her work."

"Keh, believe what you want, old woman!"

"Kaede"

"WHATEVER!"

"Good day to you, sir."

"That's right, leave! AND STOP CALLING ME SIR!" Inuyasha turned back into his house and slammed the door behind him, "Stupid woman."

* * *

"That's right, 'three million yen for greater youkai such as wolves, dogs, and weather workers.' That's what the sign says."

"So that dirty hanyou is finally worth something, eh? But are you sure they'll fork over the full three million for only a hanyou?"

"We can pass him off as a full youkai, I mean, look at him!"

"Quite right. Well, I'm in, who else is with us?"

"You have me and my pitchfork."

"Aye, anything to finally rid us of that pesky hanyou!"

"Let's go then."

And with that, the village men took off, torches and pitchforks in hand, all headed to Inuyasha's forest. "Be he there?"

"Aye. Shhh, very sensitive ears, that one's got. We mustn't let him hear us."

"Aye," all the village men agreed in whispers.

"Aye, VERY sensitive ears, he's got, then," a voice said behind the villagers, "wouldn't want that Inuyasha to hear you, would you?" As the men turned, their faces were met with that of a grinning hanyou, "Boo."

"YAHHHHH! It's Inuyasha!"

"Run! It's Inuyasha!"

"Keh, stupid humans." Inuyasha looked down at the poster the men had dropped as they fled, "What's this?"

WANTED:

FAIRY TALE CREATURES

REWARD

"What! God, what'll they think of next?" And with that, the mighty hanyou turned back to his tree house. Two visits in one day were just way too much.

* * *

The next morning, the royal guard could be seen collecting every fairy tale creature too weak or noble to resist their capture, and their happy captors walking off with tidy sums.

"Next!" shouted Goshinki, captain of Lord Naraku's royal guard.

"Here, how much for this?" A man with long white hair accompanied by a young girl shoved a small toad-looking think forward.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Please reconsider!" the toad pleaded with the man.

"Filth!" Sesshomaru kicked the toad further toward Goshinki.

"Heehee! Silly Lord Jaken!" the young girl laughed with glee at the pathetic toad's predicament.

"An imp? That'll get you a hundred-thousand yen," Goshinki replied.

"Fair enough, let's go, Rin." Sesshomaru turned to go.

"Bye-bye, Lord Jaken!" Rin smiled and ran off to catch up with Sesshomaru.

"NEXT!"

Next in line was a man with a long black braid and playfully dangerous red eyes. "Here," he said as he shoved a small boy onto the bartering table, "How much for the fox-child?"

"Hmm…" Captain Goshinki eyed the small kitsune, "Not very powerful, is he? I'd say twenty-thousand, no more."

"Very well," but as the man reached for the money there was a sudden burst of blue fire, and when it had dissipated, the boy was nowhere to be seen.

"What! What sort of con is this! No kitsune, no yen!"

"He MUST be around here somewhere! Look for objects possessing tails!"

Sure enough, not far away was a rock with a fluffy sand-brown tail coming out of it.

"Seize that rock!" roared Captain Goshinki.

At once all the guards lunged for the strange rock only to be thwarted by its disappearance in a burst of blue fire. "Where did it go? Quickly, find it! Search the woods!"

* * *

Shippo was in a predicament. He was on his own in the world for the first time in his short life and being hunted down by Lord Naraku's royal guard. Things did not look good. _If only my pa were here; he'd know what to do…_

_SNAP!_ Now, Shippo most certainly wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, which didn't do much for his run-and-hide skills. So, naturally, after giving away his position by stepping on a rather large twig, he ran out of his hiding place into plain view of Captain Goshinki and all his men.

"There he is! Quickly, seize him!" the said captain commanded.

"WAAAAHHH! SAVE ME!" Anyone who has watched the _Inuyasha_ dub should be familiar with this line of Shippo's. One could even go as far to call it his battle cry. (Not that he went into battle afterwards, but he always seems to say it when he finds himself in the midst of a battle…) Since Shippo wasn't a complete coward, he was able to gather up the courage to run away. (Yes, it takes courage to run away. I know it may sound odd, but picture it like this: a true coward would be so afraid he couldn't even move. See what I mean, now?)

Now, back to Shippo and his running: somehow or another, Shippo managed to stay several feet in front of the guards and the longest their weapons could reach, but things were still not looking up. However, hope was not all lost. Fortunately, (or should we say unfortunately?) Shippo ran head first into a certain white-haired half-demon we all know and, uh, love. Now in any other circumstance, Shippo would have given Inuyasha some crap for being only half a demon, but things being as they were, the little kitsune's first reaction was to hide behind this much-taller-than-he potential savior.

Since the guards weren't very far behind Shippo in the first place, about ten seconds after Shippo disappeared behind Inuyasha's leg, they caught up. "Halt! Who goes!"

"Halt?" Inuyasha had just been interrupted from a very important nap, therefore wasn't in the best of moods, "How am I supposed to halt when I'm not even moving in the first place, you moron!"

"I am Goshinki, captain of Lord Naraku's royal guard, and you, hanyou, are under arrest by decree of Lord Naraku's 'Fairy Tale Creature Relocation Act'. I must ask that you and the kitsune come quietly."

Inuyasha just smiled that wonderful mischievous smile he has for occasions such as this. "You think I'm going to go quietly, scum?" He cracked his knuckles, "I gotta tell you, I have a real problem with listening to authority. So I guess you're just gonna have to make me."

"Guards! Attack!" Captain Goshinki raised his sword and waited for his men to come rushing from behind him and dispatch what he thought of as the unsightly hanyou, "…"

"What guards?"

Captain Goshinki peered over his shoulder only to see abandoned swords and shields surrounded by a flood of footprints pointed in the opposite direction. "Ah…"

"Die, demon scum!" and in one fluid motion, Inuyasha unsheathed his sword and sliced the captain in two. "Feh, he wasn't much. Now," Inuyasha picked up Shippo by the tail as he was trying to run away, "Who are you, raccoon, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm a fox, heathen!"

"Fox, raccoon, who cares? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm making a strategic escape from those guards. I didn't need your help; I was about to finish them off when you showed up!"

"Let's get this straight, brat: _you_ ran into _me_, and _you_ were the one who cowered behind _my_ leg in fear. The least you could do is show some gratitude."

"Why should I? You're only a _half_-demon; I can smell the human in you." _WHAP!_ "OWIE! Whadjya do that for!"

"Feh, I shouldn't have wasted my time saving an ungrateful brat like you." With that, Inuyasha started back towards his tree house.

TWO MINUTES LATER

"What're you doing following me, brat?"

"I, uh…" Shippo twiddled his thumbs and drifted off into speechlessness.

"Beat it."

"No, wait!" The little fox lunged forward and latched onto the hanyou's leg. "Don't leave me! If I go back home that thunder brother will get me and try to sell me to the guards again!"

"So ask your parents to protect you!"

"They… my…" _sniff_ "Those th-thunder brothers killed my pa! UWAHAHAH!"

"What, so you're an orphan?" Inuyasha's face softened a little, "Well-" Insert loud wailing sobs from Shippo here "WOULD YOU SHUT UP!"

_Sniff "_O-" _hic_ "okay…"

"Look, you can stay with me, okay? But only for one night! After that you're on your own, brat!"

"Th-" _sniff_ "thanks… Wh-what's your name?"

"Inuyasha."

"I'm Shippo."

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Enough with the formalities; come on, Shippo."

"Okay."

* * *

Later on that evening as Inuyasha and Shippo were settling who got how many grilled fish in the most civilized manner they could muster ("No! It's mine!" "Ha, try and get it, runt!" "WAAHH! That was MINE, Inuyasha!"), they heard something outside in the front yard.

"Now, now, I'm sure it couldn't be all that bad," A strange voice came from the yard.

"But" _SOB_ "it was, it really, really was! Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, how could you do this to your most loyal servant!" An even stranger voice was also heard from the same direction.

"What the-" Inuyasha slapped the side of his neck, "Myoga!"

"Why, Lord Inuyasha, it's been so long! I've been searching for you for years now! It was hard to find you without a forwarding address!" The small flea Inuyasha found smashed in the palm of his hand spoke.

"Oh, save it, Myoga. What are you _really_ doing here?"

While Inuyasha and Myoga conversed, Shippo decided to check out the yard, "Uh, Inuyasha… You might wanna take a look at this…"

Inuyasha strode over to the door and looked out, not expecting to see several dozen camping tents set up with even more small demons surrounding them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY YARD!"

Everyone froze. "Lord Inuyasha, I see you cannot be deterred from the truth," Myoga spoke up, "It was Lord Naraku's royal guard who exiled us here."

"None of us _want_ to be here, you stupid half-breed!" It was the same even stranger voice from a few minutes ago. "Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, why do you do this to your faithful servant!" Insert Jaken's ('cuz that's who it is if you haven't figured it out yet) endless sobs here

"I suppose the only way to have everyone sent somewhere else would be to ask Lord Naraku for a reprieve and relocation," Stated the first strange voice from before (or Hachiemon).

"Ok, fine, whatever. Anything to get you pests outta here!" Inuyasha tossed Myoga out into the crowd. "Now who here can tell me where the hell this Naraku bastard lives?"

Everyone went silent and stared at the base of Inuyasha's front door; exactly where Shippo was attempting to hide. "Eeep!"

"Oh for the love of-" Inuyasha grabbed Shippo by the tail (again) and started toward the direction of the nearby village. "Come on, Shippo."

"Farewell, Master Inuyasha! May your journey be-"

"Just can it, will you, Myoga?"

**Well, I hope you enjoyed what I've written so far (hopefully it's not totally crappy, what shame for a creative writing major!), and I always appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello and welcome to the second installment of "True Love's First Kiss," I do hope you enjoy it. As you probably have not noticed, I changed the summary in hopes of drawing a bigger crowd. Hmm, we shall see if my efforts are for naught…**

**And before I begin, a big thanks to my two, count 'em, TWO reviewers Heaven and Earth and kitsune. Please return and review again… and bring your friends… lots of them…**

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Inuyasha or the plotline from Shrek._

True Love's First Kiss

Chapter 2

"Are you _sure_ you don't know anything, monk?" A very pretty man with long black hair and a sadistic voice asked another (also good-looking) man with a small ponytail while grinding a large metal spike through his right hand.

"I told you, I don't know anything!" the man with the ponytail cried out in pain, "And I'm not a monk!"

"Insolent man! You will address me as Lord Naraku when you speak," Naraku shoved the spike further into the man's hand, "Juromaru! Take this man back to the servant's quarters where he belongs!"

"Yes, my lord." The said Juromaru led the man out of the room.

"Master Naraku, I've brought what you asked," a young boy with a hollow, dead voice entered the room, shortly followed by a small girl dressed all in white carrying a mirror.

"Good work, Kohaku. Hold the mirror up for me, Kanna." The young girl obliged. "At last, the legendary Shikon mirror… Mirror, tell me, who is the greatest demon lord ever to have ruled over these lands?"

A serene woman's voice sounded from within the mirror, "The great Inu no Taisho."

Naraku was taken aback by the mirror's response, "…Not I?"

"You, who were born of the fusion of many demons and a human, are not a true demon. Therefore, you cannot be the greatest demon lord ever to have ruled these lands," was the mirror's calm response.

"And there is nothing the great Shikon mirror can do to change this?" Naraku began to get angry, "Surely your power is not limited thus?"

"There is one way," the mirror continued on; calm as ever, "You must seek the help of a powerful priestess, who in combination with my power, can grant your wish to become a true demon."

"And where can I find such a priestess?"

"There is only three great priestesses in this land: the first is Sango, a young woman being forced to toil day and night, cooking and cleaning for an unknown master," the image of a brunette woman with brown eyes appeared in the mirror.

"…She's not a priestess… That woman works as one of my scullery maids, does she not?" Naraku looked around the room and received silent confirmation from the guards stationed there.

"…Oh, yes. Of course. …My mistake," the mirror's calm tone remained constant. "The second is Kikyo, who perished over fifty years ago, and whose body remains incorrupt within a glass coffin."

"How can a dead woman help me!" Naraku spat.

"She can be awakened by a kiss," the mirror continued, "The third is Kagome, who is imprisoned in the highest room of the tallest tower of a castle guarded by a fearsome dragon and surrounded by a boiling lake of lava. However, I must warn you of the fearful enchantment…"

"It is of no concern, she will do," Naraku interrupted the mirror, "Kanna, take this mirror away. Kageromaru, assemble all able-bodied warriors to the arena along with my strongest hoard of demons."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Are you SURE you wanna do this, Inuyasha?" asked Shippo tentatively. "Naraku is a very powerful demon, and I don't think a mere half-demon could-" Shippo was cut off by a swift punch to his head from Inuyasha. "OW!"

"Shut up, brat! What do YOU know about what half-demons can or can't do!" Inuyasha huffed.

"…" Insert annoying cricket chirps here

"…what now!" Inuyasha came to a halt and turned to face his small protégé.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be making your 'Ogres are like Onions' speech about now?"

"'Ogres are like Onions'! What the hell am I supposed to know about onions! And why would I give a damn about ogres?"

"Well, um," Shippo pulled out a thick stack of paper held together by several brads, "it says right here in the script that while Shrek and Donkey are on their way to Lord Farquaad's castle, Shrek becomes angry at Donkey and proceeds to give his 'Ogres are like Onions' speech." Shippo flipped a few pages ahead, "Then I'm supposed to suggest using cakes in the analogy instead of onions…"

Inuyasha just stared. "…_what!_"

"Oh!" Shippo raised his gaze to meet Inuyasha's, "Um, well, er, nothing…" and quickly hide his copy of the script behind his back.

"…" Inuyasha continued to stare for a couple minutes before he finally turned back around and started again in the direction of the ominous castle that had recently appeared in the distance. "Keh, whatever."

A sweat-drop appeared on the side of Shippo's head before he scampered off to catch up with Inuyasha, "Wait! Don't leave me!"

* * *

As our two unlikely travelers approached the same ominous castle mentioned previously, they picked up the sound of what seemed to be a battle royal between humans and demons.

"I-Inuyasha, I don't th-think we should d-do this…" Shippo slowly began to take cover behind Inuyasha's legs.

"Aw, for cryin' out loud! They can't be _that_ bad if mere _humans_ are putting up such a good resistance!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes and continued on. "If you don't wanna come, I'm not making you." It took about a minute for Shippo to realize that Inuyasha was indeed serious and then run like mad to catch up.

Inuyasha opted not to respond and simply continued on toward the source of the noise, which led into what appeared to be an arena filled with spectators. Unfortunately, though, the entrance Inuyasha had so casually chosen to enter led straight into the arena itself, as opposed to the section reserved for spectators.

"Aha! It seems a new competitor has entered the fray!" an amplified deep, feminine voice called out over the P.A. system (wait, a P.A. system in the Middle Ages!).

The voice was met with a swell of cheers from the spectators. "Come on! Let's see some blood and guts!" "Hit 'em with the chair! The chair!"

"Chair?" Inuyasha was briefly distracted by an audience member's odd request.

"WAHHH! INUYASHA, LOOK IN FRONT OF YOU!" Shippo, however, remained ever-vigilant. (Shippo, ever-vigilant? Hmm…)

"Argh, I don't have time for this!" With the blink of an eye, Inuyasha drew his sword, "WIND SCAR!" and made short work of the oncoming demons.

His actions were met by a collective gasp, punctured by a lone voice, "Hey! I wanted to see him beat 'em with the- oomph!" which was quickly silenced by an elbow to the gut.

"Heheheh, well done, boy! Well done!" a sneering voice echoed through the silent arena. "It seems we have a tournament winner!" insert cheers from the audience here "And what is your name, boy?"

Inuyasha sheathed his sword and turned to face the man in the top box. "Inuyasha…"

"Well, then …Inuyasha… you have won yourself the privilege of embarking on a dangerous and noble quest to rescue a damsel in distress and bring her safely to me."

"Wait… what! Look, buddy, I'm rather busy at the moment so you'll have to get up off your ass and rescue her your damn self. Lazy bastard…" Inuyasha shouted in response. "Now, I'm lookin' for 'Lord Naraku.'"

"I am he," was Naraku's cool response.

"Oh, really? So you're the cocky bastard who dumped all those pests on my front lawn!" Inuyasha crossed his arms and gave Naraku a skeptical look, "Yeah, I'm gonna need you to find somewhere else to keep your pets, so if you don't mind…"

"Heheheh, a cocky bastard, am I? You've got some guts kid, talking to me like that," Naraku chortled, "but I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it or move. Technically, all that land belongs to me."

"Why you-!"

"_However_, I believe we can make an arrangement, if you are willing to compromise."

Inuyasha glared, "I'm listening."

"Excellent. Now if you agree to retrieve the priestess from the dragon guarded castle for me, I promise to write up a deed for you. Are we in agreeance?"

"…fine."

"Very good. Kagura?" Naraku turned to the woman who had been commentating during the tournament.

With a gust of wind, the said Kagura appeared on the arena floor in front of Inuyasha. "I shall brief you on your quest."

"Yeah, so get on with it."

"Well now, you're a rude one, aren't you?" Kagura scoffed. "It's very simple: you only need to travel to the dragon guarded castle surrounded by a boiling lake of lava located 300 kilos from here, retrieve the priestess, and return her here without a scratch. Even an idiot like you should be able to comprehend _that_."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult me, thanks," Inuyasha sneered. "Come on, Shippo," and with that, Inuyasha picked up Shippo, who was still petrified from seeing a hoard of demons charge him, turned around, and left. "You better wake up quick, brat, 'cuz I ain't carrying you the whole damn way…"

**Hmm, shorter than the last one, but this just felt like the right place to end the chapter. Please review; I'll give you a cookie! (Well, not really… but please review anyway.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Aw right, Inuyasha and Shippo, off on another whirl-wind adventure! (…right…) Anyway, here's the third installment of my newest fanfic; I do hope you enjoy it thoroughly.**

**Thanks to Heaven and Earth for reviewing again and to my new reviewers priestessmykala and heather! To answer some questions: Yea, I'm going to try and squeeze Miroku and Sango in some more wherever I can. They're just such awesome characters. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to give them prominent roles unless I decide to drastically change the plot (which I suppose I _will_ have to do at one point, lest the story be completely predictable to anyone who's seen the movie _Shrek_), but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. As for Kirara… she's currently camped out in Inuyasha's front yard with everybody else. That's how Myoga wound up there; he was hanging out in her fur for protection. (Nobody would capture him and sell him to Naraku's guards; he's tiny! He'd be worth about one or two yen tops.) On another note, I'm glad everybody seems to agree that the characters are fitting into the plot well. Thanks!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Inuyasha or the plotline from Shrek._

True Love's First Kiss

Chapter 3

To make a long, boring, and argument-filled trip short (can't exactly have a musical interlude in a typed story like they had in the movie, now can we?), we return to the story with our two protagonists approaching a large and intimidating castle that just happens to be surrounded by a boiling lake of lava. (As for just who the hell would actually build such a lovely, scary-ass castle in such an inaccessible location, though, we will never know.) Inuyasha is leading the little two-man band with Shippo… well, Shippo, being Shippo, had opted to travel the easy way by riding on Inuyasha's shoulder. Now, normally Inuyasha would have picked Shippo off, thrown him to the ground and stepped over him whilst continuing on, but being that Shippo's weight is approximately equal to a plushie, our favorite grumpy hanyou barely noticed his new detachable appendage.

"Are we there yet?" Shippo chirped.

"No," Inuyasha replied flatly.

"Are we there yet?" Shippo repeated in an identical and increasingly annoying tone as previously.

"No," Inuyasha replied with slightly more vigor.

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! We are NOT THERE YET!" Inuyasha roared. "So SHUT UP before I decide to pitch you into that lake up ahead!"

"Lake? What lake?" Shippo scanned the area for something calm and blue.

"That lake." Inuyasha pointed towards the scary-ass castle's _unique_ moat.

"That's lava."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "What part of 'boiling lake of lava' did you miss when that wind chic described the castle?"

The two unlikely companions finally reached the lip of the moat from hell. Funnily enough, since our heroes have such short attention spans, neither realized that they were, indeed, _there_, as was the topic of their recent argument.

"Okay, let's get to it." Inuyasha headed towards the narrow, rickety bridge that spanned the width of the previously mentioned moat (or the boiling lake of lava, whichever you prefer).

"WHAT?! Are you CRAZY? We're not _seriously _crossing on _that_ thing, are we?" Shippo's tiny fists clutched Inuyasha's red haori for dear life.

"Well I don't see you coming up with any alternative ways to cross," Inuyasha sneered and continued on to the bridge without changing his pace. At this point, Shippo began to whimper. Go figure. Yet, the, um, "tense" moment was over in no time flat. (Yes, I'm being lazy in the descriptive department here. So sue me.)

As the pair continued on into the castle (which was furnished really quite lovely if you ignored the chucks of stone wall that had been knocked out of place and the charred remains of zealous and over-confidant knights), a thought occurred to Shippo. "Um, Inuyasha, wasn't there supposed to be something about a dragon?"

"Yep."

"So aren't you going to draw your sword or something?"

"Nope."

Shippo began to panic. (Yeah, like he wasn't panicking already…) "But what if the dragon's around that corner watching us, just waiting to fry us for dinner? Shouldn't you be on your guard?"

"Hey, you're the one with a copy of the script; how the hell would I know where this stupid dragon's supposed to be?" Inuyasha kicked a walnut-sized rock. Why? Just because.

Shippo glanced sideways guiltily. "Script? What script?" Just then, a generic spooky noise could be heard, coming from deep within the castle. "Eeep!" Shippo jumped. "Inuyasha, we're just wandering here aimlessly! We don't even know where to start looking for the princess!"

"Priestess," Inuyasha corrected Shippo. "She'll be in the highest room of the tallest tower."

"How do _you_ know?!" Shippo glared suspiciously at Inuyasha.

"I read it in a book once."

Shippo froze and gasped, "Inuyasha…"

"What?" Inuyasha tensed up and looked to see where the little kitsune was looking. "What's wrong?"

"_I didn't know you could read!_"

Naturally, Inuyasha gave Shippo a good knock on the head (which, of course, caused an unnaturally large knot to appear on his head). Before Shippo could open his mouth to complain, Inuyasha interrupted. "You had that coming, brat."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our squabbling heroes, they were being carefully watched by two sets of menacing eyes. (Two?) The pair (our heroes, not the menacing eyes) then decided to split up (meaning Inuyasha got sick of hearing Shippo and threw him off in some random direction). Inuyasha headed towards the infamous tallest tower, while Shippo screamed his little head off in hopes it would somehow soften his inevitable landing. (It didn't, by the way.)

"Koryu," the cuter set of menacing eyes whispered to the other, "follow that little demon and capture him!"

"Um, Souten," the said Koryu replied in a weird, indescribable little voice, "don't you think that the bigger one is more likely to be able to rescue the girl?"

"Don't be stupid!" Souten whisper-shouted. "That's just a _half_-demon! Now go after the little one like I told you!" Souten began to retreat into the darkness. "Bring him to the secret clubhouse."

Koryu sighed, "You really need to come up with a better name for our base."

"Shut up!" Souten snapped as she continued to walk away. "I'M the boss. I make the rules!"

Koryu grumbled under his breath some more before heading off in the direction Shippo had been thrown.

* * *

Kagome was bored. Of course, who could blame her? She'd been locked up in this godforsaken tower for _who knows_ how long with nothing but her school textbooks to entertain her. It was every middle-school student's worst nightmare. At this rate, she was going to ace the high school entrance exams. Unfortunately, though, she was _locked in the tower_ with her books, and therefore wouldn't be able to take the stupid test anyway.

Today was just like any other day. Since she had given up studying several weeks ago, Kagome's current activity was lying on her bed, on her back, staring at the bed's canopy. "Man, my life _stinks!_" It was then she heard a pair of feet land on the windowsill across the room. Without making a sound, Kagome feigned unconsciousness and laid her hands neatly on her stomach – the classic "sleeping beauty" pose. _This is it!_ she thought, _Prince Charming is finally here to sweep me off my feet and take me away from that stupid excuse for a dragon, its annoyingly cute little keeper, and my math homework!_

The stranger sedately approached the gossamer curtain that separated him from Kagome. The eager schoolgirl puckered up in anticipation of her long-awaited first kiss. The scenario played out in her head: the handsome stranger slowly parted the curtain with one hand and leaned in close for a tender, chaste kiss on the lips.

Unfortunately this is Inuyasha we're talking about. So Kagome's fantasy was shattered when the said hanyou torn down the probably expensive curtains and shouted, "Get up, you stupid girl!"

Kagome's eyes snapped open to see who had so rudely ruined her perfect rescuer fantasy (she'd had a long time to come up with one, you see). "Ex-_cuse_ me?!"

"Oh, for god's sake," Inuyasha muttered, "You heard what I said! Now get off you ass and come on!" Without waiting for a reply, Inuyasha heaved the young girl up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, purposefully crossed the textbook-strewn room, and jumped out the window.

Naturally, Kagome's response was to scream like she'd just witnessed bloody murder right in Inuyasha's ear.

* * *

On the flip side of the coin, Shippo was now caged in some random room of the castle that had been deemed the "secret clubhouse" by his adorably evil captor, Souten. (You'd forgotten about the little punk, hadn't you?)

"HEY! You can't do this to me! I'm a Japanese citizen! …No, wait, I'm not…" Shippo trailed off. "But that's not the point! Let me out!"

"Hmph! I don't care if you're the prince of Istanbul; OF COURSE I'm not letting you out! You're a threat to the security of this castle, and my job to make sure that stupid girl in those weird clothes stays in that room with all those heavy books!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shippo asked skeptically.

"Well? Aren't you here to rescue here?" Souten glared through the stupid wooden bars. (Seriously, it was like something you'd keep your pet rabbit in.)

"Well, sort of. That sort of thing is really more of Inuyasha's job. I'm just along for the ride because I've got nothing better to do. I mean, how else would I manage to get a prominent role in this stupid story?"

"That _half_-demon?" Souten laughed, "You can't be serious!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too, at first," Shippo replied seriously. "But really, he's not so bad. He helped me destroy Lord Naraku's guards by staving them off while I prepared my deadly attack."

"So he's your sidekick?"

"Pretty much."

"I take it that he'll make some foolish attempt to rescue you and wind up getting caught himself, as the law of all cliché stories such as this dictates then?"

"I would assume as much." Shippo crossed his arms and nodded. "He many be insolent a lot, but he's still my most loyal vassal."

Somewhere on the other side of the room a small, red dragon smacked his forehead against the wall. There was just only so much of this B.S. a kid could take.

"Koryu, stop playing around and go do something useful for a change." Souten waved her underappreciated lackey away.

"You do know that I'll only devise a daring escape plan and get away with both my sidekick and the girl, though, don't you?" Shippo continued on in his hilariously serious tone.

"You wish! I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

"Is that a challenge then?!" Shippo stood up and bore his fists.

"Of course!" Souten, similarly, stood, both hands snapping to her hips.

"All right then!" Shippo shouted. "A duel, man to man! Let me out and we can start this thing!"

Souten suddenly turned furiously red. "I'm not a boy, you nitwit!"

"What?" Shippo lowered his dukes.

"I'm saying I'm a girl, stupid!" You could practically see the steam coming out of the little girl's ears.

"Aw, man. And I thought this would be a real fight." Shippo turned away and frowned. "I can't fight a _girl_."

"What's wrong with my being a girl?! I can still take you!"

"Yeah, well, maybe when you're older, kid," Shippo replied in a lofty voice.

"Souten, Souten, quick! The half-demon and- eep!" Souten and Shippo turned to see Koryu being held by his head in a clawed hand of a certain hanyou.

Wordlessly, Inuyasha tossed the incompetent dragon to his incompetent owner and strode across the room where he proceeded to lift the flimsy wooden cage off the ground (it was just sitting over Shippo in a way similar to one where you'd catch a rabbit under a crate) and haul the kitsune off by the tail.

"HEY! He's my prisoner! You can't just take him and-" Souten was interrupted when Shippo tossed a box of crayons he'd had tucked into his shirt to her.

"Here you go, kid; my gift to you," Shippo called in a patronizing tone as he was being carried off.

"Oh!" Souten held the box of crayons (though she had no idea what the hell they were… neither did Shippo for that matter – it's the middle ages, what's he doing with a box of crayons anyway?!) to her heart and blushed. Longingly watching her first crush (well that was fast…) be carried off in a most undignified way.

* * *

When our newly formed trio reached the other side of the bridge, Kagome (who'd decided she didn't need to be carried like a sack of potatoes and could walk , thankyouverymuch) forced the group to take a breather by sitting down on a rock and refusing to move until she was swept off her feet in a _romantic_ way. Seriously, she didn't even know who the hell this guy was and he was ruining her moment!

"Oh what now?!" Inuyasha dropped Shippo (who up until that moment had been carried by his tail still) with a nice, satisfying thud.

"I'm not moving any further until I get an explanation!" Kagome crossed her arms and pouted.

"What, didn't you _want_ do be rescued?" Inuyasha stared at her incredulously.

"Of course I did," she snapped. "But this was hardly the rescue I'd been expecting."

"Well, I'm so-rry that I didn't meet your stupid expectations." Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Just what kind of knight in shining armor are you?!" Kagome glared at him pointedly. "You're not even wearing armor, let alone _shining_ armor."

"Look, cupcake, I don't give a damn about your expectations and ideals. I'm just here to bring you to that Naraku bastard's castle so I can officially get the deed to my forest and have all those rotten pests removed from my front lawn." He glared down at Shippo, who was rubbing his bottom where he had landed. "That includes you too, raccoon-dog."

"I'm a fox!"

"What?!" Kagome gaped at her rescuer. "You're just rescuing me for someone else?! _And _you're eventually going to just leave me in the hands of someone you think is a bastard?! Who would _do_ that to a poor, helpless girl?!"

"Me, apparently. Now let's get going; I'm not getting any younger, here." And with that Inuyasha started back in the direction he'd originally come from.

Kagome could only stare at him in disbelief. Not only was her rescuer rude and obnoxious, he wasn't even _really _rescuing her. And to top it all off, he was just going to leave her behind!

Just as Kagome thought that, Inuyasha stopped and turned around. "Well are you coming or not?"

Figuring that following this arrogant jerk was better than sitting around in the middle of nowhere, Kagome stood and began to follow the half-demon. "What's your name, anyway?" she inquired.

"Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome trailed off.

"What? You got a problem with my name?!" Inuyasha scoffed.

"No," Kagome replied, "I was just thinking that you don't hear a name like that every day."

"Keh." Inuyasha turned around and continued walking, followed closely by Kagome.

"WAIT!!!" The two had forgotten one thing, though. "DON'T LEAVE ME!" Shippo cried and raced on all fours to catch up.

**Thus concludes chapter three. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: And I'm back with more Inuyasha, more Kagome, more Shippo, more deviations from Shippo's copy of the _Shrek_ movie script! The silliness continues to reign true!**

**Big thanks to Lightbeauty, priestessmykala, YBJLover, and AnimeAlexis, I'm really glad you're enjoying this story so far!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Inuyasha or the plot from Shrek._

True Love's First Kiss

Chapter 4

"Awww, he's just so _cute_!" Kagome squealed in delight as she picked up the kitsune and held him under his arms in front of herself. "I _love_ his _adorable_ little tail!" By the time Shippo had caught up with Inuyasha and Kagome, Kagome's anger at Inuyasha had subsided, giving her the opportunity to notice just how adorable Shippo was.

"My name's Shippo!" Shippo announced in a proud tone, as if being 'Shippo' was the highest honor anyone could ever imagine.

"Oh, he's just _SO_ cute!" Kagome began to giggle in an incredibly girly way while she grinned like a complete idiot.

"Would you SHUT UP about the stupid kid already?!" Inuyasha, having heard Kagome's coo over Shippo for the past ten minutes straight, was getting sick of this excessive feminine energy. (Well, wouldn't you?)

"Aw, Inuyasha, I'm sorry." Kagome set Shippo down gently (much to his disappointment) and skipped ahead to walk along-side Inuyasha. "I think you're cute too!"

At that last comment Inuyasha began to blush like mad. "You, _glup_, what?"

"Your _EARS_!" Kagome resumed her giggling as she lunged for the triangular appendages atop the half-demon's head.

For a brief moment, Inuyasha stood in shock as Kagome massaged his ears gleefully. "Wha… what do you think you're doing?!" Inuyasha quickly backed away from Kagome and her magic fingers.

"But they're just so cute! Can I… touch 'em?" Kagome tried her damnedest to pull off the puppy-dog pout. Unfortunately, she just couldn't wipe the goofy grin off her face and failed utterly to invoke Inuyasha's sympathy.

"What do you think you were just doing, wench?!" Inuyasha's eyebrow began to twitch violently. "_Never_ touch my ears again! You got that?"

"Well, geez, ya big crank, it's not like I was trying to rip 'em off or something!" Kagome gave Inuyasha skeptical look. "You have some sorta complex or somethin'?"

Inuyasha squinted and glared. "What are you babbling about, you stupid girl?"

"Oh, never mind!" Kagome huffed. "Tell me about this Naraku guy and why he's too good to come rescue me himself again?"

Shippo, who was becoming sick of being ignored, piped up, "Naraku's kinda scary. He was the guy who made up the law against fairy-tale creatures." Shippo looked up at Kagome with wide, serious eyes. "And he talks scary…"

"So let me get this straight: you two are taking me to this scary bastard who makes up prejudice laws and talks scary? Just _what_ kind of knight are you?"

"One of a kind." Inuyasha flashed her a mischievous grin. "I'm in a class of my own. Which," his expression darkened, "is the whole reason _why_ I have to 'rescue' you. All I ever wanted was for all you damn people to leave me the alone! But _NO_! They just _had_ to pass that stupid law, and those idiotic villagers just _had _to come and bug me in the middle of the night, and this runt just _had_ to escape into _MY_ forest, and that Naraku bastard just _HAD_ to 'relocate' _all_ those _annoying_ demons onto _MY_ lawn!" Inuyasha inhaled deeply. "_And then _I _HAD_ to walk all the way to that bastard's castle to get all those pests off MY property, _AND THEN_ he has the nerve to sick all his stupid guards on me, _**AND THEN** _he sends me off on this stupid errand! **_AND NOW_** I have to put up with _you _and your weird mood swings and annoying questions until I can give the bastard _who caused ALL my trouble in the first place_ what he wants!"

By this point Inuyasha was not even two inches from Kagome's face, who, understandably, looked quite surprised by his outburst. "So…" Tears began to well up in Kagome's eyes. "You hate me?"

"_YE_—wait, are you… are you _crying_?" Inuyasha spluttered and backed away from the girl warily.

Kagome was suddenly overcome with an incessant case of the hiccups. "_I'm… not… crying!_"

"Wha—yes, you are!" Inuyasha replied indignantly. "What're you _crying _for?!"

"_I'm—not—crying!_" Kagome whined. "_I'm NO-OT!_"

"Ye—wha—th—_there's no CRYING in baseball!_" Inuyasha glared at the bawling girl. "There's _NO CRYING_ in baseball!"

Slowly, but surely, Kagome's tears came to a halt. "Baseball?" she managed to choke out.

"_That's right!_" Inuyasha continued to shout. "_There's no CRY—_"

"Inuyasha," Shippo quickly interrupted the hanyou, "that's the wrong movie!"

"—_ING in_… what?"

"That's the _wrong movie_," Shippo hissed. "This is _Shrek_, not _A League of Their Own_. There's no such thing as 'baseball' here."

"Really?" Inuyasha's anger had quickly subsided and gave way to curiosity.

"Yeah," Shippo reiterated in a harsh whisper, "see?" The small boy once again pulled a thick stack of paper from nowhere. "Nothing about baseball. Look, we even skipped this part where she's supposed to insist that you kiss her 'cuz you rescued her an' all."

Inuyasha peered over the kit's shoulder at the indicated text. "Oh, yeah. I see." The half-demon nodded in agreement before his face scrunched up in distaste. "Wait—what's this about _a kiss_?"

Shippo, ignoring Inuyasha's face and tone of voice, seriously continued on. "Yeah, this time it's the girl that messed up. You'd think she'd have had enough time to study the script being in that tower for so long but whatever." Shippo closed the manuscript and tucked it back wherever it had come from. "Maybe she just thought you were so ugly that she purposefully skipped that part, not wanting to even have to _think_ about kissing someone with such a stupid face."

Somewhere during the two boys' conversation, Kagome's face had steadily grown more and more red until it reached a point where anyone would swear you could fry an egg on it. That just happened to be right around the time Shippo stated his theory on Kagome's improvisation and Inuyasha's stupid face. (Well, _he_ thought it was stupid anyway…)

Simultaneously, Inuyasha's face grew almost just as red as Kagome's, though for an entirely different reason. "_YOU—LITTLE—BRAT!_"

"EEP!" Shippo scampered behind the radish-faced girl. "Kagome! Save me!"

Kagome, however, was currently unavailable. So please leave a message after the— _coughcough _Uh, what I meant to say was that Kagome was all too preoccupied with vividly imagining herself kissing Inuyasha and blushing madly (even more so) like the little schoolgirl she is.

It was several minutes before Kagome regained her senses and noticed that Inuyasha had Shippo by the collar and was repeatedly punching him on the head and had been doing so for quite some time now, judging by the number of over-sized knots on his little head. Needless to say, the girl was horror-struck by such a display of gratuitous (erm, not so gratuitous to all you Shippo-lovers out there …sorry) violence. "INUYASHA!" The girl paused for half a breath as two demon (or half-demon) heads snapped to look in her direction. "**SIT!!!**"

Inuyasha, who had completely forgotten what he was doing or that he was even holding the small boy, and Shippo both just stared at the schoolgirl with her eyes scrunched closed and her fists clenched on either side in complete shock.

"Um, what're you doing?" Inuyasha asked with only the tiniest hint of scorn in his voice. For him, it was about as neutral tone as you could get.

"Yeah, what was that about?" Shippo dislodged himself from Inuyasha's fist and hopped to the ground.

Kagome opened her eyes and stared at her two bewildered companions. "Uh… I'm… not sure…"

Inuyasha and Kagome just stared at each other while Shippo made a quick once-over of his script. "You guys didn't read this at all, did you?" Shippo muttered under his breath.

"Um," Kagome strode forward and tugged Inuyasha along by the hand, "shall we be going then?"

"Yeah…" Inuyasha curiously glanced down at Kagome's hand situated around his own. "Sure…"

* * *

Later on that afternoon when the three travelers had regressed to their initial formation (Inuyasha in the lead, Kagome a couple paces behind, and Shippo bringing up the rear), they found themselves in a lush fairy-tale forest, complete with cute little bunnies, wee duckies, and the like. No one had said a word since the "sit" incident, though there was a brief moment of frustrated embarrassment several minutes afterward when Kagome and Inuyasha realized that they were still holding hands.

"Inuyasha, maybe we should stop for lunch soon." Kagome rubbed her poor, hungry belly and frowned.

"Keh, you humans and your pitiful constitutions."

"Aw, but Inuya-ah-AH!" Suddenly, Kagome was whisked away by what appeared to be a miniature tornado or sorts. As quickly as she had gone, she reappeared on a branch in a nearby tree in the arms of a man garbed in feudal armor and fur. "HEY! Put me down, you, you…"

"There's no need to worry, miss." The man had a gruff, yet pleasant voice and bright blue eyes that appeared to have no pupils at all. (Haven't you ever wondered about that?) His long, black hair was tied in high ponytail and his bangs pushed back with a furry headband that matched his clothes. "You're safe now. I'll take you far away from this evil half-breed mutt and make you my woman." The stranger flashed a winning smile that revealed his two fanged incisors.

"HALF-BREED MUTT?! Bring her back down here you stupid wolf, the only one she needs rescuing from is you!" Inuyasha shouted and shook his fist at the said wolf-demon in the tree.

"Just ignore him, princess." The man ignored Inuyasha's outburst completely and continued to gaze into Kagome's bewildered and frustrated eyes. "I'm Koga, the new leader of the Wolf-Demon Tribe and your knight in shining armor."

"Now wait just a minute!" Kagome struggled to release her waist from Koga's sturdy grip. "I don't belong to _anybody_ and I most certainly don't need to be rescued! Now _let—GO_!"

"_KOGA!_" It all happened instantaneously: upon hearing his name, Koga jerked sideways, loosening his grip on Kagome, who managed to pull herself free at the cost of her footing on the branch, and Inuyasha, upon seeing Kagome's impending contact with the ground several feet below her, sprung into action, leaping forward to catch Kagome bridal-style and carry her away from the nervous wolf, whose face, which strongly resembled that of a kid who'd just got his hand caught in the cookie jar, was looking toward a red-headed, pig-tailed woman dressed in similar clothing to his own. (_Whew_, was _that_ a mouthful!)

The newly arrived female with spring green pupil-less eyes leapt next to Koga on the tree branch and sternly grabbed him by one of his pointed ears. "_WHAT_ do you think you're _doing_?! I turn my back for five minutes and you go gallivanting off harassing some poor girl! _Really_, I _don't _know _what_ I'm going to do with you anymore!"

"Ow-Ow-Ow! Ayame, it's not what it looks, I swear! She was obviously kidnapped by this half-breed mutt and—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Ayame's peeved demeanor vanished instantly as she turned to address our stunned protagonists. "I'm _really_ sorry about all this. He's got some _hero-complex_ and I _try_ to keep him under control, but _honestly_!" The girl smiled sweetly and bowed. "Again, I'm _really_ sorry for all the trouble. _You_," she turned sharply to Koga, "are coming with _me_!" And with that the she-wolf-demon marched back from whence she came with Koga in tow. (Still by the ear, too. Ouch…)

All Kagome and Inuyasha could do was stare after the odd couple as they retreated into the foliage. "So, uh, Kagome," Inuyasha started, "are you all right? Hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks." Kagome lightly blushed and smiled up at Inuyasha (he was still carrying her bridal-style). "Um…" Kagome shifted her gaze to the ground, indicating that she was fine (really) and could stand on her own.

"Oh!" Inuyasha's blush matched Kagome's and he gently set her down on her feet. For a moment, the two could do nothing but blush and shuffle their feet, each of their eyes averted to away from the other's.

"HEY!" Shippo piped up, apparently having missed the whole exchange due to the fact he found a bug and a stick nearby to poke at it with. "Didn't you say we were stopping for lunch? I'm hungry!"

Kagome was first to recover, scooping Shippo into her arms and removing the stick from his hands. "Of course!" she smiled. "You know how to fish, right?" The girl glanced from Shippo to Inuyasha and back.

"I'm a really good fisher!" Shippo announced with great pride.

"All right then, let's go find a stream and catch some fish!" Kagome set Shippo back down and the two trotted off in the direction opposite to what the wolves had taken.

Before they could completely disappear from his sight, Inuyasha began to follow them. "Keh, stupid, weak human constitution…"

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Ah, I must admit that I was a little more than stuck as to what would happen from this chapter on, but I was watching _Shrek 2_ the other night, and that in conjunction with the musical score from _Shrek_ that I downloaded off iTunes inspired me into figuring out what I wanted to do. Hmm, I think some credit needs to be given to my English Lit. class as well. You see, it's so damn boring that I'm forced to come up with ways to entertain myself for the grand total of **two hours and forty minutes** that I'm required to spend sitting there pretending to listen to the lecture. Sometimes, I draw, but lately I've been outlining _True Love's First Kiss_! Yay progress!

Anywho, just to let you know, this chapter and chapter six are looking to be about the same lengths as all my previous chapters, but chapter seven looks like it's gonna be a doozy… (It's all one scene! I don't know where to end it!!) But that may have something to do with the fact that the "outline" is actually all the preliminary dialogue for the scene. Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. –Oh! Pre-warning: from here on out I'll be deviating more and more from the _Shrek_ movie plotline. I'd always planned on doing so (it wouldn't b e very fun if I stuck to the original word for word, now would it? You'd know exactly what was gonna happen before it does!), but I thought I'd give you guys heads up. Why? I dunno, I felt like it.

Lastly, a heaping helping of thanks to all my reviewers: Munesanzun, priestessmykala, KagomeByAnotherName, Killer of Kikyo, and alana124pyro! You guys make my day!

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Inuyasha or the plotline from Shrek._

True Love's First Kiss

Chapter 5

The scene opens with our three protagonists finishing up the last of their grilled fish; fish courtesy of Inuyasha (Shippo wasn't as good of a fisher as he had claimed) and grilling courtesy of Kagome. By this point in time, the sun had sunk low into the horizon and almost disappeared.

"_Yawn…_ Inuyasha, where are we going to be sleeping for the night?" Kagome asked as she rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake.

The half-demon shrugged. "Here's as good as any place, I suppose."

"Here?" Kagome scanned the area for some sort of shelter only to find trees, trees, and, well, more trees. (Seriously, what did you expect?) "Um, you wouldn't happen to have a tent or something, would you, Inuyasha?"

"No," Inuyasha looked at Kagome curiously, "why?"

"Where are we supposed to sleep?"

"On the ground," Inuyasha answered simply, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Oh." Kagome became slightly disheartened as she scanned the area again, this time searching for the softest spot of ground available. Eventually she decided on a soft-looking tuft of grass at the base of a nearby tree and curled up into as comfortable of a position as possible. She was quickly joined by Shippo, who snuggled his way into the young girl's arms with a sleepy smile.

Inuyasha, satisfied with the arrangement, leapt onto the lowest branch of the same tree, about six feet above Kagome and Shippo. He wasted no time in making himself comfortable and was about to fall asleep when his acute hearing noted that was Kagome shivering. "Oi, wench, you cold or something'?"

Kagome, who had been about to drift unto an uneasy slumber, was jolted awake by Inuyasha's question. "N-no," she shivered, "I'm j-just fine. D-don't worry 'bout me." Kagome attempted to rearrange herself into a warmer position.

"Feh," Inuyasha scoffed, "if you're cold just say so, you stupid girl."

"Hey!" Kagome's trembling voice protested, "I'm not—"

"Here." The girl's feeble argument was interrupted when Inuyasha removed his red haori and tossed it down to her. "That should help. Now go to sleep," Inuyasha ordered without glancing down.

A small smile graced the girl's features. "Thanks," she whispered just loud enough for Inuyasha to hear.

"Keh." Inuyasha waited until she relaxed and her breathing became steady and even before shifting his gaze to the sleeping girl's face. _She looks so peaceful…_ Inuyasha's thoughts trailed off into dangerous territory before he shook his head. "What am I thinking? She's just some stupid girl I have to bring to Naraku to get my forest back…" he quietly scolded himself.

"_Mhmm_…" Kagome stirred in her sleep, catching Inuyasha's attention, and mumbled, "Mom… Grandpa… Sota…" A lone tear trailed down her cheek.

"…Isn't she?" The half-demon gazed at his charge in concern a long time before finally falling asleep himself.

* * *

Back at Naraku's castle around the same time our heroes had fallen asleep, a young woman could be found sneaking from the castle's kitchens down into the dungeons. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a bundle of something, and scanned the nearby cells before calling out tentatively, "Miroku?"

About halfway down the nearest row of cells a man stirred. "Sango? Is that you?"

"Miroku!" the woman, Sango, cried and rushed to the man's cell. Kneeling down beside the cell, she set down her bundle and grasped the man's cold hands. "Oh, I've been so worried! Are you all right? Hungry?" She briefly let go of his hands, undid the bundle, and pulled out a couple rice balls and some dried meat.

"Sango, you're a life-saver." Miroku smiled weakly as he accepted the food and began to eat.

"How's your hand?" Sango inquired. "Has it healed any?

Still chewing, Miroku stretched his bloody, bandaged right hand through the cell bars for her to see.

The woman gasped, "Do you think he poisoned the spike when he injured you?" She gently grabbed his hand with hers and began undoing the bloody bandages. "I brought some salve and fresh bandages for you. I knew you wouldn't be _completely_ healed, but I thought you'd at least have stopped bleeding." Sango bit her lower lip as she applied the healing concoction and rewrapped his wounded hand.

"I'm not sure _what_ he could have done to cause the wound to stay open for so long," Miroku replied between bites of rice ball. "I'm starting to get the feeling he was planning for me to bleed to death down here," he stated bitterly.

"Don't say that." Sango dropped his newly bandaged hand and stared him in the eye. Tears began to well up in the woman's tired eyes. "I don't ever want to hear you say _anything_ like that again."

"Sango, Sango!" Miroku caught her fisted hands and rubbed them soothingly. "You know I didn't mean it that way. Now," Miroku gazed at Sango in obvious concern, "what's wrong? You're not usually this sensitive."

"It's nothing." Sango turned her head away from Miroku and stared at the floor.

"It's not nothing," Miroku replied firmly. "Sango, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

"It's… Kohaku." Sango sniffed, "He doesn't return to our family's quarters at night anymore and he follows that Kanna girl _everywhere!_ But that's not the worst of it; it's like he doesn't even recognize any of us anymore! He obeys Naraku's every command without hesitation, I… I just don't know…" Sango shook her head as tears silently rolled down her cheeks.

"Shh, shh…" Miroku soothed, "It'll turn out all right in the end. You just wait." He gently brushed a kiss on her cheek. "Now, did I tell you what I over-heard? About the Shikon mirror?"

"You mentioned Naraku had found it, but you didn't say anything else."

"Yes, he found it the day was …_interrogating_… me." Miroku made a sour face at the memory. "He sent me out of the room before he addressed it, but the guards who were supposed to escort me down here stayed just outside the door to eavesdrop instead. First he asked the mirror who was the greatest demon lord in the land." Miroku paused as Sango gave a contemptuous snort. "To which the mirror replied was someone called 'the Inu no Taisho.'"

"Heh, serves him right."

"Yes, well Naraku wasn't very satisfied with that answer, as I'm sure you can imagine." Miroku smirked. "But the mirror informed him of way he could change that. He has to become a full demon, and to do that he has to combine the mirror's power with that of a great priestess."

"So _that_ must have been what the tournament was for a few days ago!" Sango exclaimed.

"Tournament?"

"Yes, Naraku held a tournament between all the greatest warriors in the land and sent the winner on a quest to retrieve some girl from a dragon-guarded castle." Sango frowned, "But that's all I heard about it. I don't even know if the winner has set out yet or not."

"Knowing Naraku they probably have," Miroku stated solemnly. "Or if they haven't he's most likely killed them and found another warrior to retrieve the priestess."

"How is Naraku supposed to combine the priestess's power with the mirror's? Shouldn't the priestess have enough power to refuse?"

"We can only hope, Sango. We can only hope."

Both Miroku and Sango lapsed into a pensive silence for several minutes before they were startled from their reverie by the sound of someone shuffling down the back staircase.

"Sango!" Miroku urgently whispered. "You have to leave now! Have you had any luck finding the key?"

"No!" Sango's face scrunched in anguish. "The only one I could find is the one the dungeon's guard keeps with him at all times! Miroku, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry, Sango, I'll be fine," Miroku reassured. "Worry about yourself. I'll find a way to get out of here, I promise."

"Oh, Miroku…" Sango leaned forward and the two shared a brief, but passionate kiss. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Until then, my love," Miroku whispered as Sango made her hasty retreat.

* * *

The next morning, we find Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo well rested and fed, but still in the forest. (Just how big is this #!-ing forest anyway?!) Thus far it had been an uneventful and argument-free morning, but none of that would make for a very interesting story, now would it? It was not long before Inuyasha, who was once again in the lead, suddenly slowed to a stop.

"Inuyasha, what is it?" Kagome inquired, concerned.

Inuyasha jerked his head to east where, oddly enough, there was a large clearing in the trees. "Inuyasha senses tingling!"

Shippo sighed, tired of all these ridiculous allusions the cast-members were making, as he leapt to perch on Kagome's shoulder. "_Inuyasha_," the kit groaned, "this isn't—"

But we never got to hear whatever was (or, rather, _wasn't_) what Shippo meant. At that very moment a bolt of lightning struck not five meters in front of Inuyasha as whomever it was made their dramatic entrance.

"Ah, I see you have company, Inuyasha," a deep, stoic voice stated. "I would apologize for interrupting, but I don't care." The speaker finally began to descend into our protagonists' view. He was a tall, rather effeminate man with long silver hair and golden eyes that resembled Inuyasha's.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha spat out.

"Yes, I'm touched that you remember my name, little brother, but you shouldn't interrupt when others are talking. As I was about to say, this won't take long, provided you cooperate, so you can go back to your _human_ companion."

"What do you want, you bastard?!" On reflex, Inuyasha spread his arms in a combative stance and moved protectively in front of Kagome.

"Why, our father's sword, of course. Do you really think I'd go through the trouble of finding you just to make you miserable? Don't flatter yourself; I have _much_ more important things to do with my time." Sesshomaru strode forward and extended his clawed hand. "The sword, if you please."

"Yeah, like I'd just _give_ you MY sword without a fight!" Inuyasha drew the said sword and whispered to Kagome, "Get outta here and go hide somewhere, got it?"

Kagome nodded tersely and sought refuge with Shippo behind the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Very good, Inuyasha, distractions aside. Now shall we begin?" Before Inuyasha could so much as blink, the older demon had eliminated any distance that might have been between them and was holding him up by the throat.

"INUYASHA!" Kagome moved to run forward and attempt to aid Inuyasha.

"No, Kagome," Inuyasha managed to choke out, "stay back."

"Foolish girl," Sesshomaru's stone cold eyes glared at the girl, "there is nothing you could possibly do to harm me."

"HEY!" Kagome stomped her foot indignantly. "I don't like your attitude, mister!"

"Kagome, no!" Inuyasha wheezed, his free hand clawing at his brother's.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "Insolent pest." He raised his free hand and moved to flick his wrist.

Noticing the motion, Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Don't—you—DARE!" The half-demon wrenched his now-burning throat free of the demon's poisonous claws, whipped Tetsusaiga around to grasp with both his hands, and took the arm Sesshomaru had been readying his attack on Kagome with clean off.

"YOU!" Sesshomaru's eyes flashed red and he quickly backed away from the enraged half-demon.

"That's right, me!" Inuyasha mocked. "And if you ever _think_ about harming Kagome again, I'll slice off more than just your arm!"

Kagome, who had been running toward Inuyasha, stopped dead in her tracks with an utterly shocked expression on her face.

"This is not over," Sesshomaru hissed as he began to ascend into the sky on a cloudy mist of demon something-or-another. (Yeah, I have no idea what that stuff's called; you know what I'm talking about?)

Satisfied with his brother's retreat, Inuyasha collapsed to his knees, grasping his throat and coughing.

Kagome, having regained her senses, stomped over to Inuyasha. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could've been killed!" she shouted.

"_You— were in danger_," he gasped, not looking up.

"Well you didn't have to be so _reckless_! What if Sesshomaru had dug his claws deeper into your neck?! You would have helped him rip your own throat out!"

Inuyasha's head snapped up to glare at the angry girl. "Would you just SHUT UP and let me protect you?!" He motioned to his throat. "I'm gonna go wash this out in that stream we passed." Inuyasha sheathed his sword and walked away without a backward glance.

That left Kagome, who had slumped to her knees, alone in the clearing, her face once again expressing shock, with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

**Phew! That last part took a little longer than expected. Anyway, you know the drill: please review!**


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